In today’s episode, we explore the profound teachings of Adrian Rogers on living a Spirit-filled life. Through an intriguing analogy of an automobile, the discussion reveals how many Christians miss the true power available to them through the Holy Spirit. Listen in to discover the ignition key to a faith that carries instead of burdens.
Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you’ll hear that in today’s message. Now, let’s join Adrian Rogers.
SPEAKER 01 :
Take your Bibles and turn please to Ephesians chapter 5 and a very familiar verse that we’re going to look at in a moment, verse 18. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18. Now before we get into the passage, I want you to use your imagination. I’m going to give what may seem to you a ridiculous and silly episode, but I want you to imagine a man who buys an automobile. He’s never owned an automobile before and he doesn’t understand an automobile, but finally he gets enough money to buy a brand new automobile. And so he is very happy with this automobile. He shows it off to his friends. He shows them the beautiful paint job. He shows them the soft upholstery. He has them sit in there and listen to the stereo. He shows them all of the amenities of this automobile, but there’s one thing he doesn’t understand about it. He doesn’t understand that it has an engine in it. And so everywhere he goes, he has to push it. Now, ever so often, he’s going downhill so he can get in and coast. But that doesn’t thrill him too much because he knows he’s going to have to push it up the next hill. And this automobile that is supposed to be a blessing to him has become a burden to him. And rather than it carrying him, he is pushing it. He’s very proud of it, very grateful to have it most of the time, but sometimes he wishes he didn’t have it at all. And then somebody says to him, you know, there’s something you don’t understand about this automobile. And they show him a thing called an ignition key and said, put that right in there and turn it. And he turns it and he hears this surge of power. And he says, what is that? Well, that’s the engine. That’s the motor. Now put it in drive and push that pedal down there. And when it does, it roars away in a surge of power. And he says, why, this is wonderful. This is glorious. Why didn’t somebody tell me this sooner? You say, Pastor, really, that’s kind of dumb. I mean, that’s a stupid story. Nobody could be that dumb. And you’re right. Unless, unless it is the Christian who does not understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now, friend, when God saved you, God gave you a faith with an engine in it. And there are many people who are pushing their faith rather than letting their faith carry them. And the faith, the salvation that is meant to be a blessing has almost become a burden to them. And they’re grateful they’re saved, but secretly they’re saying this is such a difficult thing being a Christian. Well, today I want us to discover the ignition key to this thing called Christianity. Look, if you will, in verse 18. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Do you see that? Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. May I ask you a personal question? Now, it’s not polite to ask personal questions most of the time. For example, how much money do you make? How much did that dress cost? You’re not supposed to ask those kind of questions. But I want to ask you a personal question. Are you being filled with the Spirit right now? Are you being filled with the Spirit right now? Now, I did not ask, does the Holy Spirit indwell you? He indwells all Christians. I did not ask, do you believe in the fullness of the Spirit? I didn’t ask that. I didn’t even ask, have you been filled with the Spirit? I didn’t ask that. The question that I ask you is a very personal question. Are you… Being filled with the Holy Spirit right now. That’s a personal question, isn’t it? You see, our friend Stephen Olford said we ought to be consciously filled. We ought to be continuously filled. We ought to be conspicuously filled with the Holy Spirit. Actually, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 literally says, Be ye being filled. I want to talk to you about the fullness of the Spirit, and I hope that you can understand that being saved is not a matter of what you do for God, but it is a matter of what God does through you by the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. Now, our outline today is going to be very, very simple. And the first thing I want to give you and I want us to think about are the reasons for being Spirit-filled. And under the heading of the reasons for being Spirit-filled, I want to give you three reasons why you ought to be Spirit-filled. The first reason is your obedience. God has commanded it. This verse, Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18, is not a suggestion. It is not a request. It is a command of Almighty God. Now, look, if you will, at the verse very carefully. Be filled. That’s what we call the imperative mood. When something is imperative, that means it is necessary. I might say to you, it is imperative that you do this thing. This is not optional equipment. This is not a suggestion. It is a command from God. And the Christian who is not spirit-filled is living in rebellion against God. Now it is in the present tense. So that’s the reason I ask you, not have you been filled, but are you filled? Be filled right now in the present tense. Now it is plural in number. That means be ye being filled. That is, the command is not just simply to the pastor. or to the minister of music, or to the soloist, or to the missionary, the promise is to you and to your children, and as many as the Lord our God shall call. Every boy and girl who knows Jesus ought to be Spirit-filled. Every evangelist ought to be Spirit-filled. Every layman, every laywoman ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be ye, all of us, filled with the Holy Spirit. It is plural. It is plural in number. It is passive in voice. Now what does that mean? He doesn’t say get filled. He says be filled. It is not what we do. It is what he does in us and through us. Now, it’s very interesting. This verse, look at it carefully. It says, be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. We camp on the first part of that verse, don’t be drunk with wine. And I don’t think a person ought to be drunk with wine. But I want to say something to you. That it is a greater sin… Not to be filled with the Spirit than to be drunk with wine. Now, I know that most of you are disagreeing with me right now. I know that most of you are disagreeing. You’re saying, no, no, no, no. Getting drunk, that’s far worse than not being filled with the Spirit. But I will disagree with you. It is a greater sin not to be filled with the Spirit. than it is to be drunk with wine. The Bible teaches that the sins of omission are greater than the sins of commission. It is a greater sin to fail to do what you ought to do than to do what you ought not to do. Why is that? Because if you’re doing what you ought to do, you cannot be doing what you ought not to do. But if you’re doing what you ought not to do, you will not be doing what you ought to do. I’ll never say that again. So I hope that you heard it. The sin of omission is a greater sin than the sin of commission. For example… I’ve had far more difficulty in the churches that I pastor with people not been filled with the Spirit than I have with people who’ve been drunk. Isn’t that true? Carnality, that’s the great issue in the church. Now, if Brother Whitmire were to come up to this platform this morning to lead the singing, and let’s suppose he staggers up here, and let’s suppose his eyes are red and blurry, and let’s suppose his tongue is thick, and let’s suppose he stumbles around a little bit, and we would say, I believe Jim Whitmire is sick. Somebody help him. And you get up close to him, and he reeks with alcohol. He’s skunk drunk. And we say, Jim Whitmire is drunk. Now that’s never happened and it will never happen. It will not happen. Will it? No. It will not happen. Absolutely. Beyond a shadow of any doubt, it will not happen. But how many times may a person come to the platform not filled with the Spirit? You see, listen, it would be more wrong for him to come up here not spirit-filled than it would be for him to come up here drunk. And you see, if he’s filled with the Spirit, he’s not going to get drunk. Because being drunk is the devil’s substitute for being spirit-filled. What I’m trying to say to you, friend, is I’m not saying, believe me, I’m not putting a premium on getting drunk or I’m not making light on getting drunk. The Bible says don’t be drunk. I’m just simply saying that why should we be Spirit-filled? Number one, obedience. It is imperative. The Bible says it is imperative that you be filled. It is a command to obey as well as a blessing to enjoy. Now here’s a second reason. Not only our obedience, but our obligations. Have you ever thought about the obligations that are yours as a Christian? Have you ever thought about what the Bible commands you to do? How are you going to do what the Bible commands you to do? You don’t have the strength to do what the Bible commands you to do. For example, we’re in chapter 5, verse 18. Let’s just continue to read. Look in verse 19, and that speaks of our worship life. Verse 18 says, be filled with the Spirit. And then verse 19 says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our worship life, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because God is a Spirit and And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Have you ever been in a worship service where people are trying to worship God in the flesh? And it’s just carnality. It’s just some kind of a circus. It’s some kind of a program. How tedious and how tasteless that is. But you’ve been in worship services where those who are leading the worship are filled with God’s blessed Holy Spirit. And the congregation, the people are singing praises to God and they’re worshiping God in spirit and in truth. The only way you can truly worship God is to worship Him in the spirit. But not only in your worship life, but in your wedded life. Look in verse 22. Wives… Submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. Now the Bible teaches that a wife is to respect and love and be submitted to her husband as if he were Jesus Christ. You say, you mean that two-legged devil? That’s right. You are to submit unto Him. Now, I didn’t say that. God said it right here. Well, in this day, if each person’s standing up for himself or herself, how’s a person going to do that? Well, that’s not human nature to do that. And I don’t know a wife in the world who can submit to her husband without being Spirit-filled, truly. Submit to her husband without being spirit-filled. She might do it grudgingly, but that’s not the way we’re to submit to the Lord Jesus. Gladly, wonderfully, happily, we’re to submit. This does not mean that the wife is inferior to the husbands. Many women are superior to their husbands. I know mine is superior to me. She says, I don’t want to be equal. I’m not coming down for anything. She didn’t say that. She’ll get me at home for saying that she said that. men and women before the Lord are all equal. And yet the Bible says that wives are to submit to their own husbands. Well, it’s not in human nature to do that. And then you say, well, why does the Bible always tell the hard things to the women? Well, it really doesn’t. Continue to read. Look, if you will, in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Now the wife is to submit to the husband as if the husband were Jesus Christ, but the husband is to love the wife as if he were Jesus Christ. And how does Christ love the church? Well, he loves the church sacrificially. He died for the church. He gave himself up for the church. A husband ought to love his wife so much that he is willing to die for her and shows it by the way he lives for her. And incidentally, most women wouldn’t have any difficulty submitting to a husband who loved her enough to die for her and showed it by the way he lives for her. I think Harry Ironside said that a man came to him one time for counseling. And Dr. Ironside said, what is your problem? He said, my problem is my wife. He said, are you having difficulty? He said, no, no difficulty at all. He said, I just love her so much. I worship, I adore her. I just, I think about her all the time. I’m just afraid that maybe I love her so much it’s a sin. Dr. Ironside said, well, do you love her as much as Jesus loved the church? Oh, he said, I wouldn’t say that. He said, well, get with it. Get with it. You haven’t loved her enough. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. I can’t do anything as Jesus did it. I don’t have the ability to do anything Jesus did. The only way that I can do what Jesus has done is for Jesus in me to do it. Isn’t that right? For the Holy Spirit of God to love Joyce through me. That’s the reason that Joyce doesn’t mind being second in my life because Joyce knows that when Jesus Christ is enthroned and I’m spirit filled, I will love her better than I could if she were number one in my life. When she’s number two in my life, she receives far more love than if she were number one because God is loving her. Every now and then some man will come to me and say, well, you know, I just, I don’t love my wife. I just don’t love her. As if that’s some excuse to separate or divorce. That’s no excuse. Because everything that God commands you to do, you can do. What if God were to say to me, Adrian, jump over this building? Well, I can’t jump over this building. What kind of a God would command me to do something I cannot do? When God says husbands love your wives, that means you can do it. But you can only do it through His power. What am I saying? Look, in your worship life, you need to be Spirit-filled. In your wedded life, you need to be Spirit-filled. And then in your work life, you need to be Spirit-filled. Just keep on going. Come on down to chapter 6 and look, if you will, in verse 5. The word literally is slaves. Be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh. With fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto Christ. Do you know what that means in plain English? You serve your boss as if he were Jesus Christ. You say, I can’t do it. Why? He’s not a Christian. He’s not right with God. How could I serve him as if he were Jesus Christ? Continue to read verse 6. This is chapter 6, verse 6. Not with eye service as men pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill, doing service as to the Lord and not to men. You work for him as if he were Jesus Christ, and when you go to work, You ought to come through with the same enthusiasm for that man and that business as you had for this church and this business when you came in this door. That’s what the Bible says. The Bible says you serve Him as if He were Jesus Christ. I want to let you in on a secret. If our people would begin to live like that on Monday, people would start believing what I preach on Sunday. Do you know that? They would. You know, people would say of Christians on the job, and what a better place could there be to witness for Jesus Christ than the job? Your job is your temple of devotion. It is your lampstand for witness. What better place to let your light shine? The boss would say, you know, I don’t understand these Christians. Why, they’re here on time. They work with a smile on their face. They’re very careful. They’re honest. They wouldn’t steal a thing. I could trust them with the entire business. Why, they seem to be devoted to the business as if they own the business. Why… You would think they think I’m the Lord the way they serve here. When a man goes to the employment agency and he needs somebody to work for him, you ought to say, by the way, if you have any spirit-filled Christians, send them over. Send them over. Those are the kind of people I want. Well, that’s not in human nature to do that. Human nature is to get by with as little as you can and get as much as you can. Get all you can and can’t all you get. Sit on the lid and poison the rest is the motto that most people have. Rather than saying, I’m going to give myself, I’m going to serve. Well, how are you going to do that? I don’t have what it takes to do that. That’s not my nature. By nature, I’m selfish. But being Spirit-filled, you can do that. And then look in your war life. Skip on down to chapter 6 and verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. Now, it’s all still in the context of being filled with the Spirit. We’re in a battle. We have an enemy. He is real. He is malevolent. He is cunning. He is sinister. He is active. He has marshaled all of the forces of hell against you and your family. He wants to sabotage your life. The bomb is in place. The fuse is laid out. The match is struck. He wants to bring devastation to your home, to your health, to your happiness, to your future, to your faith. You have an enemy and you’re no match for him. He is stronger than you are. He is powerful. He is cunning and sinister beyond belief. But the Bible says, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The only way you’re going to win in this warfare is to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And then not only in your war life, but in your witness life. Notice, if you will, in verse 18. He says, “…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” He’s still on the theme of the Spirit. “…watching too with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel.” How important it is that I be filled with the Spirit. Because all is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down. I’ve told you many, many times, I can preach truth, but only the Holy Spirit can impart truth. And I am so dependent upon Him, and we all are, whether we’re witnessing on the street, whether we’re witnessing in the business, whether we’re witnessing in the classroom, whether we’re witnessing in the home or from the pulpit or from the choir. Oh, that we might be filled with the Spirit of God. I’ve given you two reasons to be Spirit-filled. One is our obedience. Number two is our obligations. Let me give you the third reason. Our opportunities. Now, turn to Ephesians 5 again. Look, if you will, in Ephesians 5, verse 14. Wherefore he saith… Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the light, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly. Now that means looking around. Circum means around. Spectly means watching, looking. Not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. What is the will of the Lord? And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now what’s he saying? Well, the key is in verse 16, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Is there anybody who would deny that these are evil days? Is there anybody? Now, if that was true in Paul’s day, how much more true it is in our day? We’re up against the organized, mobilized, demonized forces of hell, and it comes in every way. Sometimes it’s a frontal attack. Sometimes it is very subtle. But there is a war, and if you don’t know there’s a war raging today, friend, you are deaf, dumb, and blind to spiritual things. Now, there is a war, but there has never been A greater day, a greater age, a greater opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus than right now. There is more hunger for the gospel now than ever before. There is more openness to the gospel than ever before. You say, Pastor Rogers, I thought you said things were getting bad. They are. Well, you say, is the world getting better or worse? Yes. As the night grows darker, the saints grow brighter, and the hungers are more intense, and there are people who are looking, waiting, wondering, can we find a way? Is there an answer? And there is an answer, and the answer is in Christ. What? Oh, we need a generation of Spirit-filled people because of the opportunities today. We had better not let this opportunity slip through our hands like sand falling to the ground. I heard old Dr. Charlie Howard. would say years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, something that stabbed me in my heart. He was a great Bible teacher. Dr. Charlie Howard said, I’d rather be Peter, James, and John asleep in the garden of Gethsemane than to be a Christian asleep in these pregnant times in which we live. Oh friend, we need to wake up. You say, is there a chance to win this world to Jesus Christ? If there were only 5,000, if we were all of the Christians, there were just 5,000 right here. And each one of us got spirit-filled and became a witness. And suppose we won, each of us, three people this coming year. Next year, there’d be 20,000. Isn’t that right? Is my arithmetic right?
SPEAKER 1 :
20,000.
SPEAKER 01 :
Just three a year. But now let’s suppose that we also taught them to win souls, to be Spirit-filled. And not only were we makers of disciples, but we’re makers of disciple-makers. And so the next year, each one of them wins three and teaches them to do the same thing. Did you know by that simple progression, with Spirit-filled Christians just winning three a year, did you know that in 20 years… Every soul on planet Earth would be saved. All of us would know the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s an incredible thing. I mean, in such a short time, if we were the only Christians that ever lived. I mean, right here. Just right here. Only winning three a year and teaching our converts to win three a year. You see, Christianity has not failed. It just hasn’t been tried. We have not, when all fails, go back and read the directions. And the key to all of this is to be Spirit-filled so that we might reproduce ourselves. Why then? What are the reasons for being Spirit-filled? Number one, obedience. Number two, obligation. Number three, opportunity. All right, now, let’s talk a little bit about the requirements for being Spirit-filled. Here’s the second point, the requirements. How are we to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Now this is a command and everything that God requires of us He teaches us what to do. Now He says be filled with the Spirit. Do not think of the Holy Spirit as a substance. The Holy Spirit is a person. Don’t refer to the Holy Spirit as it. Refer to the Holy Spirit as Him. Jesus said, when He is come, He will teach you all things. You wouldn’t say about me today, it wore a maroon tie, I hope. You’d say He did, or He did this, or He did that. Don’t depersonalize the Holy Spirit. Don’t think of being filled with the Spirit as if you are some kind of a vessel and the Holy Spirit is some kind of a liquid. Or don’t think of your being a battery and the Holy Spirit an electrical charge. No. No. The Spirit is a person and you are a temple. Let me give you a key verse here. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now to be filled with the Holy Spirit, number one, means a complete commitment to Him. That is, you have opened up the door of the temple. You have welcomed him in and you have given him the key to every closet and to every room. Every so often we’ll have guests in our home and we’ll say, my house is your house. Make yourself at home. Here’s the key to the front door. Here’s a key to the second car. If you have one, there’s a refrigerator. Here are the linens. Here’s your room. You’ve got the run of the house. Make yourself at home. You’ve ever done something like that, you know. And then suppose you were to come home some evening and your house guest is not in the bedroom that you assigned to him, but he’s in your bedroom. He’s sitting there at your roll-down desk. He’s taken a key and unlocked the desk and rolled it back. And he’s going through your income tax returns. And he’s reading your old love letters that you wrote to your wife and reading your diary. Right? He would say, excuse me, may I help you? Are you looking for something? No, man, but boy, these love letters are a hoot. And you know, I really thought you made more money than that. And boy, you feel the back of your neck getting hot and you say, excuse me, I don’t know how to say this, but that’s really none of your business. What are you doing there? Those are my personal papers. And he’d say, well, I don’t understand you. I thought you said this house was my house. I thought you told me to make myself at home. That’s just what I’m doing. You would say, I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean that. I wonder if we’ve done the same thing in the Holy Spirit. I wonder if there are not some people today who have said, Holy Spirit, my body is your temple. Come in and bless me and fill me and take control. But the question is, have you given him the key to every closet? I mean, is there any area in your life that is off bounds to the Holy Spirit? Have you given him the key to your business life? Have you given him the key to your date life? Have you given him the key to your social life? Have you given him the key to your financial life? Have you given to Jesus Christ every key? Now, there must be a complete commitment to the Holy Spirit. He is a person. And to be filled with the Holy Spirit just simply means, Lord, I am committed to you. Now, many times we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit for the wrong motive. I mean, a proud self can want to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be a superior Christian. An ambitious self says, if I’m filled with the Holy Spirit, I’ll be a great Bible teacher, a great singer, a great preacher, a great evangelist. But God is not interested in that. The Holy Spirit has one ministry, and that is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. When the burning ambition of your heart and in your life is to exalt the Lord Jesus, and you have given Him the key to every room, then you are filled with the Holy Spirit. But now listen, not only must there be a complete commitment… But there must be a continual control. A continual control. This verse of scripture literally says, be being filled. Have you ever thought about it? Why did he say, be not drunk with wine when in success. but be filled with the Spirit. Why didn’t he say, don’t steal, but be filled with the Spirit? Or why didn’t he say, don’t commit adultery, but be filled with the Spirit? Why did he take the particular sin of drunkenness and use that in contrast? Well, I’ve already answered part of the question. He does it by contrast. As I’ve said, being filled with the Spirit and being drunk with wine are antithetical. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles were accused of being drunk with wine, and Peter said, we’re not drunk with wine as ye suppose. That is, they were drunk on the Holy Spirit. So, God is using the Holy Spirit’s fullness in comparison to drunkenness, not only in contrast, but in comparison. Not only in contrast, but in comparison. Because being filled with the Holy Spirit is a lot like being drunk. Have you ever seen a man drunk under control of another substance? Everything about him has changed. The way he talks, the way he walks, the way he thinks. Sometimes he may be given to incredible generosity. I’ll buy everybody in the house a drink. Sometimes he may be very bellicose. I can whip any man in the house. Sometimes his tongue is very loose. He will say things. He’ll tell his boss off. He’ll just do all kinds of things. He’s under control. He’s dominated. by the influence of intoxication. Now, when a man is filled with the Holy Spirit, he is controlled by the Holy Spirit. His walk, his talk, his generosity, his courage, it’s all changed by the Holy Spirit of God. But now here’s the question. How does a man get drunk? Well, he drinks. But the question is, how does he stay drunk? He has to keep drinking. Isn’t that right? He has to keep drinking. That’s the reason he says, don’t be drunk with wine, but be being filled. Now do you get it? Don’t be drunk with wine, but be being filled. And that’s the problem with many folks who have been spirit filled, but they’ve sobered up. we need to continually be dependent upon the holy spirit there is a complete commitment a continual control where you’re saying moment by moment lord i’m yours and then thirdly there is a conscious claiming actually you must just claim this fullness just like you receive the lord jesus by faith as you receive the lord jesus so walk ye in him How did you receive him? By faith. How do you walk? By faith. You just simply say, Lord, I thank you. I open myself up and I thank you, Lord, that right now you are filling me. And I claim by faith. I don’t look for a feeling. I am claiming the filling. Now do that and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Now here’s the last thing and very quickly. I’ve talked to you about the reasons. I’ve talked to you about the requirements. Let me talk to you about the results. This passage of scripture gives three basic results of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They show in all of our relationships of life. It’s very easy for you to tell whether or not you are being filled with the Holy Spirit of God because you’ll see it in your relationship, number one, to God. Number two, to circumstances. And number three, to other people. Now I want you to look. First of all, in your relationship to God, there will be a spirit of adoration. Look, if you will, in verse 19. Verse 18, he says, be filled. And then in verse 19, he says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Do you know, I can tell when I’m spirit-filled, I just constantly want to be praising God. Constantly singing, just singing to the Lord and saying, my Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine. For thee all the follies of sin I resign. There is a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love in your heart for the Lord Jesus Christ. And you cannot help but praise him. I wonder how people can sit in a worship service. Never sing, never praise, never say amen, never smile, never laugh, never weep. I say, what’s wrong with these people? I’ll tell you what’s wrong with them, friend. They are not filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And so in your life, in your relationship to God, there’s a spirit of adoration. And then look, if you will, in the next verse, in your relationship to circumstances, there’s a spirit of appreciation, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A spirit-filled person is humbly grateful. A flesh-filled person is grumbly hateful. That’s just the difference. Friend, when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you are just simply thanking God for what He is doing. That’s one of the reasons that you’re praising Him is because you are thanking Him for what He is doing in your heart and in your life. And He doesn’t say for some things. He says for all things. He doesn’t say sometimes. He says all times. Giving thanks unto God always for all things. Now here’s the third mark. Here’s the third mark. First of all, in your relationship to God, there’s a spirit of adoration. In your relationship to circumstances, there’s a spirit of appreciation. And then in your relationship to other people, listen carefully, there is a spirit of accommodation. Look in verse 21, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wouldn’t life be wonderful if we could just learn how to do that? If I could just submit to you and you could just submit to me. You know, submission. Submission, that’s not for women. That’s for Christians. Every day, every place. We’re to learn to submit. Submitting one to another in the fear of the Lord. Have you learned something of the spirit of submission? Let me tell you something very quickly. You have about all of God that he can trust you with. If you teach a child to drive, what’s the first thing you show that child? The brakes, not the accelerator. And if the child is not interested in the brakes, you just say, hand me the keys back. Isn’t that right? If he doesn’t know how to make it stop, doesn’t want to learn how to make it stop, you don’t want to teach him how to make it go, right? The key is the fullness of the Spirit. But the fullness of the Spirit is only to those who are under the control of the Spirit and submitted to the purpose of the Spirit, submission. If you’re not interested in the brakes, God’s not going to show you the accelerator. But oh, my precious friend, If you will learn how to walk with God in faith, if you’ll do it, if you’ll do it, He will be filling you and in your relationship to God, there’ll just be the spirit of adoration. In your relationship to circumstances, no matter what happens, how bad it is, how dark it is, you’ll just be saying, thank you, Lord. Thank you. And when you meet your brothers and sisters in Christ, you are going to be saying, how can I serve you? How can I love you? How can I accommodate myself to you? Wouldn’t this be just kind of like heaven on earth if we did that?
SPEAKER 02 :
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